English translation copyright © 2014 by Yuval Noah Harari Cloth edition published 2014 Published simultaneously in the United Kingdom by Harvill Secker First published in Hebrew in Israel in 2011 by Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir Signal Books is an imprint of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Harari, Yuval N., author Sapiens : a brief history of humankind / Yuval Noah Harari. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-7710-3850-1 (bound).–ISBN 978-0-7710-3852-5 (html) 1. Civilization–History. 2. Human beings–History. I. Title. CB25.H37 2014 909 C2014-904589-1 C2014-904590-5 Jacket design © Suzanne Dean Picture research by Caroline Wood Maps by Neil Gower McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company www.randomhouse.ca v3.1 In loving memory of my father, Shlomo Harari Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Timeline of History Part One The Cognitive Revolution 1 An Animal of No Significance 2 The Tree of Knowledge 3 A Day in the Life of Adam and Eve 4 The Flood Part Two The Agricultural Revolution 5 History’s Biggest Fraud 6 Building Pyramids 7 Memory Overload 8 There is No Justice in History Part Three The Unification of Humankind 9 The Arrow of History 10 The Scent of Money 11 Imperial Visions 12 The Law of Religion 13 The Secret of Success Part Four The Scientific Revolution 14 The Discovery of Ignorance 15 The Marriage of Science and Empire 16 The Capitalist Creed 17 The Wheels of Industry 18 A Permanent Revolution 19 And They Lived Happily Ever After 20 The End of Homo Sapiens Afterword: The Animal that Became a God Notes Acknowledgements Image credits Timeline of History Years Before the Present 13.5 billion Matter and energy appear. Beginning of physics. Atoms and molecules appear. Beginning of chemistry. 4.5 billion Formation of planet Earth. 3.8 billion Emergence of organisms. Beginning of biology. 6 million Last common grandmother of humans and chimpanzees. 2.5 million Evolution of the genus Homo in Africa. First stone tools. 2 million Humans spread from Africa to Eurasia. Evolution of different human species. 500,000 Neanderthals evolve in Europe and the Middle East. 300,000 Daily usage of fire. 200,000 Homo sapiens evolves in East Africa. 70,000 The Cognitive Revolution. Emergence of fictive language. Beginning of history. Sapiens spread out of Africa. 45,000 Sapiens settle Australia. Extinction of Australian megafauna. 30,000 Extinction of Neanderthals. 16,000 Sapiens settle America. Extinction of American megafauna. 13,000 Extinction of Homo floresiensis. Homo sapiens the only surviving human species. 12,000 The Agricultural Revolution. Domestication of plants and animals. Permanent settlements. 5,000 First kingdoms, script and money. Polytheistic religions. 4,250 First empire – the Akkadian Empire of Sargon. 2,500 Invention of coinage – a universal money. The Persian Empire – a universal political order ‘for the benefit of all humans’. Buddhism in India – a universal truth ‘to liberate all beings from suffering’. 2,000 Han Empire in China. Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. Christianity. 1,400 Islam. 500 The Scientific Revolution. Humankind admits its ignorance and begins to acquire unprecedented power. Europeans begin to conquer America and the oceans. The entire planet becomes a single historical arena. The rise of capitalism. 200 The Industrial Revolution. Family and community are replaced by state and market. Massive extinction of plants and animals. The Present Humans transcend the boundaries of planet Earth. Nuclear weapons threaten the survival of humankind. Organisms are increasingly shaped by intelligent design rather than natural selection. The Future Intelligent design becomes the basic principle of life? Homo sapiens is replaced by superhumans? Part One The Cognitive Revolution 1. A human handprint made about 30,000 years ago, on the wall of the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France. Somebody tried to say, ‘I was here!’